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December 5, 2013

Tea, Coffee, and Gift Exchanges

Elf on the shelf gets into the coffee beans!

Over the last two years my work team and I have participated in playing some form of a "secret santa". We started using a site called Elfster.com that takes all of the guess work out of the task of divvying up the names and ensuring everyone gets another member of team. I must say it is a pretty cool site. You can create wishlists for your "Santa" to view and it takes the guess work out of shopping for a person you don't know as well. You can also set a cap on the cost of a gift. So if your families are large and you need a gift exchange option, Elfster.com is your site!

I consider myself a really easy person for which to shop. I have enough of a broad interest in sports, politics, reading, girliness, etc that I think shopping for me is pretty easy. I can do with a candle or a bottle of scented hand sanitizer. In creating my list on Elfster.com though, I can be a little more specific in what I want and as long as I don't go over budget, I am guaranteed to get something that is nice.

One of my favorite joys since my surgery in 2010 is enjoying a nice cup of tea from Teavana. I have a few favorites like the Jasmine Dragon Pearls, or the Assam Gold Rain. Green or black tea, it really doesn't matter. It just makes me feel relaxed and warm when I brew a pot and sit and breathe in the steam and the wonderful aroma of the tea. It's very engaging for me. I just love it.

I have been vacillating between tea and coffee this year, choosing either a nice Triple Latte for a high caffeine kick in the morning to a nice cup of English Breakfast. My Santa this year was my boss and she actually gifted me a new tea that I will be trying today. It smells divine! I wish this thing had scratch-n-sniff or "smell-o-vision" so you could take a waft of the yummy delicious smell of this wonder artisan tea blend!.

Since WLS, coffee and tea have been very helpful to me in helping me get over those humps when I wasn't necessarily feeling physical hunger, but moreso head hunger. The heat and caffeine from the beverage helps quell my addiction just a little longer so I don't get tempted by any other distractions -- especially at this time of year.

If you haven't tried any new teas or coffees this Christmas season and are looking to do a little something for yourself, splurge a little and find a tea or coffee that you haven't had before. I am not selling Teavana, it just happens to be a place I like to go maybe once a year. There are some great teas in the grocery store by Lipton that have Pomegranate and Acai berries -- it's wonderul! Wherever you go to get your tea or coffee try a new on for size and then let me know what you thought about it. I'm about to go and finish my Triple Espresso Shot Medium Latte... soooo good! Oh, and let me know if you try out Elfster.com -- and no, I'm selling that either!